Accountants among most recession-proof professions 

ACCOUNTANCY is one of the most recession-proof private sector professions in the UK, according to an analysis of ONS and professional industry data.

Analysis undertaken by Randstad Financial & Professional found that, over the past 12 years, the total salary bill across the full-time accounting profession has increased by 11.5% over the past 12 years, while other professions with typically high numbers of private sector employees have seen their aggregate salary bills shrink during the same period.

The management consulting profession, for example, has seen its total pay bill fall, in real terms, from £6.9bn to £5.7bn between 2002 and 2014 – a decrease of 17.3%.

The analysis ranks each occupation by the change in the aggregate salary bill for full-time staff between 2002 and 2014, adjusting for the effects of inflation and takes account of both the resilience of employment levels and real salaries to provide a rounded view of how recession-proof each occupation is.

Tara Ricks, managing director of Randstad Financial & Professional said: “Accountancy is recession resilient. The profession’s comparatively high aggregate salary bill demonstrates accountants are in the enviable position of being in demand whatever the financial weather. During sunny economic periods, they can pick up consulting work.

“In more choppy fiscal waters accountants become an invaluable source of risk advice – while the demand for tax advice and audit work is never going to dry up. By contrast, other private sector professionals, such as retail workers and builders, are more vulnerable to the economic climate.”

Source: AccountancyAge

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